LIV Golf Night Club

We’ve seen plenty of golf under the lights in recent years but none that actually had a material impact on a professional league’s season. That will change this year as LIV Golf is set to play its opening event in Saudi Arabia under the lights. On Tuesday, Matt Vincenzi of Sports Illustrated reported that the event in Riyadh, February 6-8, will begin at 6:15 p.m. local time. With sunset projected around 5:45 p.m., that means the entirety of the round will be played in the dark.

On the one hand, you have to hand it to LIV and their new TV partner Fox Sports for trying something new. This is clearly a play to get as many viewers in the United States as possible and get the new television contract off to an acceptable start. Playing at night is certainly a different form of golf and will be a moment that they can claim as an innovation in professional golf. But as we’ve seen with various editions of The Match and The Showdown, there are real complications that come with golf being played under artificial light. It’s more difficult to read breaks on the green, shadows are even more in play than normal, and depth perception is a challenge. That doesn’t necessarily affect the viewing product, but if you’re a player, those are real concerns that could impact your finish in the tournament. If Jon Rahm can’t handle missing a putt because of a spike mark I can’t imagine he’s going to like missing a five-footer because he couldn’t read the green at night.

Maybe there will be so many lights on the golf course that all of this is a moot point. And if that’s the case, there will be TIO aplenty. I just find it hard to believe that you’ll get the best out of the players under those circumstances. Although, that outcome is easier to accept when you have a guaranteed paycheck provided by the home government.

This piece originally appeared in the Fried Egg Golf newsletter. Subscribe for free and receive golf news and insight every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.